The first Technical Cooperation Meeting on Security between the Governments of Belize and the Republic of El Salvador was held on December 5, 2017 in San Salvador. This followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in October, 2017 which formally established the strengthening of relations and citizen security in the countries.

During the meeting, both delegations focused on improving efforts in the areas of migration, intelligence sharing, international security and terrorism, prevention of gang violence, and the fight against organized crime and forensic sciences.

The next Technical Cooperation meeting was agreed to be held in Belize in June 2018. The delegations committed to continue the dialogue through the established channels of communication in security. The delegation also visited the National Forensic Laboratory and the Immigration Office at a Border Entry Point to exchange best practices in dealing with migration flows.

The Belize delegation was headed by George Lovell, CEO, Ministry of Hone Affairs; Diane Locke, Director of Immigration and Nationality; Virgilio Murrilo, CEO, Kolbe Foundation, Belize Central Prison; Kimiko Ferguson, Acting Executive Director, National Forensic Science Service and Margaret Juan, Charge d’ Affaires, Embassy of Belize in El Salvador. The delegation from the Republic of El Salvador was headed by Commissioner Mauricio Ramirez Landaverde, Minister of Justice and Public Security.

Other participants included Commissioner Edgar Lizama, Director of Intelligence; Luis Flores Hidalgo, Vice minister of Social Prevention; along with other representatives from El Salvador’s Police and Immigration departments.